Los Angeles
First off - some highlights. It was wonderful to finally meet Lars, Sid, and Marco who were all sitting together and also Donovan. There was another lady there who was in the fan club but not on our list that was VERY GROUCHY. She was livid that she was on row 10 instead of row 2. I felt bad for her because she was so angry I thought there was a good chance she wasn't going to enjoy the show (if you can even imagine that.....)
I also saw Toni Basil. She walked right past me as I was on the aisle in Floor 3. You can tell it's her because she looks similar to the pics in the program but she'll also be wearing some kind of crazy hat.
Now about the show: First off..........let me say that while I loved it and sang aloud to all the songs you should know this is not the 24/7 tour. That tour truly was a retrospective of an entire career that had ascended into the heavens. This is alot more like "The best of Tina live." She does her hits but nothing extra and the show has a different feel to it. First off there are many songs that the dancers aren't really around Tina very much but just doing their own thing. There are no extended versions of songs (Be Good To Me and Private Dancer are basically the album version) and Tina seems to run through them fairly quickly without a lot of visiting with the crowd etc.
NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING, though........The highlights: Steamy Windows was fantastic although the sound was lousy during part of the show. Tina looks absolutely beautiful in all of her costumes.
Typical Male and WYGIWYS were fun and I had forgotten how much I liked them until she sang them live. Acid Queen was great and she wore a stunning long red cover up that looked like its own dress until she took it off and had that sexy little glittery red number on underneath it. Now let's talk about We Don't Need Another Hero: First off - the costume. The people that were a little critical of the wig are right. It looks ridiculous. The dress is fantastic and looks just like the movie. When people were talking about the wig I assumed that she ducked back stage, took off her regular wig and put the Mad Max one on. Nope - this is actually a wig ON TOP OF a wig. And it is very obvious. It's also platinum blond and sort of looks like a Halloween costume from the drug store. Nevertheless, however, she sang the hell out of that song and everyone loved it. Now the ending that you've heard about..........

The band was wrapping up the song and Tina was up on a high lift with the Mad Max guy. All of the sudden you see the curtains start to circle closed and then stop. You could tell there were people on the inside of the curtains pulling and yanking for all they were worth trying to get those things to close! It was hilarious. The band ended the song. The stage went dark and all the lights in the arena went up! And there was Tina just standing there with the Mad Max guy waiting to see what would happen. They finally just lowered her down in front of everyone (the crowd was going wild) and when she finally got down (since everyone was watching anyway) - she did a little bow and people cheered. Then she walked off the stage. I wonder if someone in the back heard about it!
For Goldeneye they pulled out the old "Golden Eye" from the WD tour. It was weird to see it up close. Everyone seemed to really enjoy I can't stand the rain.Probably the highlight for me was the Rolling Stones Medley of Jumpin' Jack Flash and It's Only Rock N Roll. Oh my god she just sang the hell out of those songs and the lights were going crazy, the dancers were jumping around and the crowd just erupted! There were videos of her singing with Mick at Live Aid and of course the whole ripping off the dress thing.
I tell you - I didn't want it to end. I was singing at the top of my lungs. She wrapped the show up with the usual: The Best, Addicted To Love, Proud Mary, and Nutbush with Be Tended as the finale. I think she's finally starting to slow down just a tiny bit (So she's now acting like she's about 45!) She kind of ran through these songs pretty quickly without talking to the audience and it's the regular choreography. People started leaving early which I totally couldn't believe. One couple that was sitting directly in front of me on the floor left AFTER INTERMISSION! And they seemed to be having a good time, too. I can't imagine that. There was an older lady next to them that could tell how much I was loving the show and a few times she offered me her binoculars.
Other tidbits: CAMERAS - they were totally allowed at the Staples Center.
My brother and I both brought our digital cameras and as we were walking in there were signs about what types of cameras WEREN'T allowed (lenses more than 3", tripod, etc.) As we walked through the metal detector I took my cellphone out and put it in the box and walked through. Of course the thing went off and they weren't paying a lick of attention. My brother put his digital camera in the plastic container and walked through and they gave it back to him without a problem. During the show the ushers were pacing back and forth from the stage to the back of the floor and then back again. It was really annoying and distracting but they never said a word about pictures.
My feeling is that if you had a small video camera that sort of looked like a regular camera and you weren't right there on the edge you could have brought it in no problem! Donovan was on the screen for about 3-4 seconds all by himself during the first part. I didn't see any celebs there that night but I did hear that opening night Oprah, Whoopi Goldberg and Michelle Obama all showed up.Programs are $30 and shirts are $35-40. There are a limited number of "commemorative posters" that are wrapped in light plastic with a cardboard backing that are $75. I agreed with some of the others that they were a total rip off.
However - people were buying them and very pleased with their purchase. She did the singalong to What's Love although it was brief. My feeling is that probably as the tour continues and she gets more comfortable with it that she'll maybe talk a little more and extend it a little bit.The Ninjas were just a little bit violent. I wasn't in any way offended or anything like that but it was kind of strange and awkward. She introduced the dancers as her "flowers" and Claire is now called "Dance Captain." Ivona wasn't there but there are two new dancers along with Claire and Solange.
Tina does alot less dancing this tour than in past tours.I kind of doubt there will be a DVD of this show. It really just does feel like "An evening with Tina Turner" where she just pulled together the best pieces of her previous tours as a gift to the fans.Finally: There is absolutely nothing that comes close to TINA LIVE. I know there were a few slightly negative things in here but let me reiterate - I had a wonderful time and Tina's voice is absolutely at 100% and she looks amazing in those beautiful costumes. I think the costumes are probably better than any other tour (with the possible exception of that sexy thing she opened the 24/7 tour in before she changed the top to a higher cut one!) I absolutely cannot wait until Detroit. I'm curious to hear other people's thoughts that were there........
Pete in Columbus, Ohio